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Photo courtesy of Indiana Public Media

Just how much sugar should you eat? And what is causing childhood obesity?

These are questions nutritionists tackle everyday.

Yet a report released yesterday by Eat, Drink, Politics says the nation's largest group of professional nutritionists—the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics—has close ties to food and beverage companies like Coca-Cola, Mars, Hershey and Nestlé. Not only do these company sponsors receive space at conferences to convince dieticians of the benefits of their products, required continuing education is often also run by these very same companies.

"These courses cannot possibly be based on science if they are sponsored by the likes of Coke and Hershey’s," says Michele Simon, a public health lawyer and founder of Eat, Drink, Politics. "Food companies are not in the education business, they are in the selling food business. These particular companies make money selling the very foods people are eating too much of, so how could they possibly offer science-based information that would go against their interests?"

Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, can pay $50,000 to host a two-hour “nutrition symposium” at the Academy’s annual meeting.

Companies on the Academy’s list of approved continuing education providers also includesKraft Foods, Nestlé, and PepsiCo.

The Corn Refiners Association (lobbyists for high fructose corn syrup) sponsored three “expo impact” sessions at the 2012 annual meeting.

Yet the report also finds a majority of registered dietitians surveyed found Coca-Cola, Mars, and PepsiCo "unacceptable" Academy sponsors and 80 percent of registered dietitians said corporate sponsorship implies Academy endorsement of a company and their products. Additionally, Simon says, the Academy has not supported controversial nutrition policies that might upset corporate sponsors, such as limits on soft drink sizes, soda taxes, or GMO labels

Ethan Bergman, PhD, RD, FADA, CD, and President of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says that continuing education classes "are examined to ensure that both sides of the topic are being presented. As part of our dedication to transparency, all educational sessions that are presented by an Academy Partner are noted in the event program materials and on site at the session itself. These speakers must also complete interest/disclosure forms in accordance to Academy policy." Additionally Bergman says the survey of dieticians "questioned a very small subset of Academy members, were not statistically representative of Academy membership and contained inherently biased questions, as found by an independent, third-party analysis."

Last, in response to the allegation that connections with the industry prevents the Academy from supporting controversial nutrition policies like soda taxes, Bergman asserts that the Academy "is a science-based organization. So, while it may be easy for other individuals or groups to support or denounce a particular issue, in order for the Academy to develop a position, there must be a consensus of reliable science to back up that position."